Questions tagged [equity]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

Does a startup need a separate CEO?

I am the technical founder of a startup in seed phase. I will probably do all software development (except of graphical design) by myself. The startup is an innovative social network on blockchain. I ...
porton's user avatar
  • 139
26 votes
8 answers
15k views

My offer letter doesn’t reflect what was discussed. What should I do?

I recently received an offer from a small tech start up that just received a round of funding to be their founding sales rep. It’s exciting and I verbally accepted the offer, however when I received ...
Anonymous's user avatar
  • 269
1 vote
3 answers
1k views

Starting at a competitor while owning equity of previous employer

Assume an employee at startup company X has bought a small equity stake (<1%) in this company (we are not talking about granted equity but shares that have been bought at the current valuation of ...
NectarBear's user avatar
-2 votes
3 answers
1k views

1-5% founding CTO equity?

I am a PhD candidate in a technical field who recently met two other folk of similar interest and embarked on an entrepreneurial endeavor. They are interested in starting a company that requires the ...
Travis Carpenter's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
2k views

Only 10% of the shares for employees

I am in negotiations with a startup to join them as the 5th employee. The current offer includes 0.3% of the shares, which I thought it was low. When I sent them my counter offer asking for more, they ...
balborian's user avatar
  • 207
1 vote
2 answers
557 views

Is it common to value startup equity on future expected valuations?

Disclaimer: The numbers are made up, but reflect the real proportions. I was offered a job at a startup, which just closed a financing round with $10M valuation and has 10M outstanding shares. The ...
AnonymousEdc's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
678 views

How to ask to be paid same salary for same job title

I know this is an audacious first question, I hope someone(s) will be willing to help. I need to write a letter to my supervisor to this effect: I want to be paid equally. For many years now I have ...
wintermutexx's user avatar
8 votes
8 answers
3k views

What is the share ratio of most tech founders in the first few years? [closed]

I have been working on a big web app/mobile app for students in my country. It's a project that should take me 6-8 month as a solo developer (full stack Next.js) Right now, I'm focused 100% on ...
KarimS's user avatar
  • 213
0 votes
4 answers
448 views

Bonus agreement vs shares

I am in negotiations with a company about a full-time job. Instead of 10% shares however, they are proposing a bonus agreement where I would get dividends and if the company is sold, a bonus equal to ...
Raymond Holmboe's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
413 views

Job offer with equity from a startup - what to look for?

I'm in talks with a startup founder about a job, pretty much a CTO role. At the moment it's only 3 people there, I would be the 4th one. It's all running off the founder's pocket now, he says he's got ...
KeepLearning's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
443 views

How to avoid share dilution when you negotiate the contract

I am about to join a project as a CTO role and the two people who started this project are willing to give me some company shares besides cash payment. How do I negotiate the contract to avoid share ...
Jerry Zhang's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
358 views

What is the best way to participate in a startup idea? [closed]

Recently I got a proposal to be part of a startup idea, as the head of development team. I was offered three ways of being a participant: 1- To be a shareholder. 2- To get paid with a fixed salary. 3-...
Shpend Palushi's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
467 views

What is an appropriate compensation structure for freelancing for an early-stage startup?

I was approached by a startup to do some work developing their product. They do not have revenue or funding yet and offered to pay a “market” salary for a contract period that would be 100% deferred ...
Nathan Faber's user avatar
-5 votes
5 answers
542 views

Should I give equity to employees in order to motivate them to work more

I'm very interested to ask you what do you think about giving company equity or stock to employees. In my view this should make them much more motivated to work. Have you see this practice to lead to ...
Peter Penzov's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
657 views

How do I raise the issue of potential salary discrimination with my supervisor?

I am an Operations Manager for a small non-profit in Washington DC. Outside of the president, we have 5 employees. During the hiring process in late 2019, I attempted to negotiate an increase in ...
Worker Bee's user avatar
40 votes
5 answers
10k views

Is refusing offered stock options an option?

The company I'm working for (for some time already) offered me and other colleagues employee stock options. They're presenting it as such a great "gift" to us and almost that we should be grateful for ...
yose67's user avatar
  • 417
3 votes
3 answers
975 views

How do I approach founders about salary inequality in a startup?

To add a little context, I joined a startup as a fullstack developer in late 2017, making me the fourth member of a team of two founders working sales, and me and a colleague doing the actual ...
Zyril's user avatar
  • 155
0 votes
1 answer
464 views

Signed options letter was for wrong % of ownership

I own 10% of the company I helped co-found. After a round of funding last year, I was given and signed an options letter to adjust my number of options to maintain my 10% equity. However, unbeknownst ...
John Doe's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
849 views

How much equity do I deserve as the sole developer?

I apologize for the length of the post. The last two paragraphs are a more brief summary. I began working with this company a year ago with the assignment of handling general office tasks. Very ...
Max Carter's user avatar
-2 votes
4 answers
381 views

Joining a startup company at seed funding stage [closed]

A startup company wants me on board as a core software engineer, at a very early stage (Seed funding stage) – there are currently 8 people in the company (Three co-founders included). They offer me ...
manish ma's user avatar
  • 107
3 votes
6 answers
426 views

What would be a fair split of ownership for a new service I and another company created [closed]

I am currently working at an online marketing company as a software developer. A few months ago I started my own software company (sole proprietorship, eenmanszaak in Dutch). I am still studying and ...
Z3r0byte's user avatar
  • 149
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

If a company is in debt, do employees with equity have any financial obligation?

If I choose to work for salary + equity, and the company loses and/or is in debt, am I obligated to pay a part of the company debts? Is it common in the startup world?
1da's user avatar
  • 49
30 votes
6 answers
7k views

How to politely refuse a startup's equity? [closed]

Hypothetical situation: I received an attractive job offer from a startup, which includes a salary of x and equity that the startup values (let's say fairly) at y. y is a non-trivial sum; x+y is a ...
SquiddleXO's user avatar
  • 1,989
8 votes
4 answers
1k views

My business partner does not want to participate on the business activities, how should I proceed?

I have started a business together with another partner as an equal in terms of earning and effort. There's no written contract, just a gentlemen's agreement. We are an IT software company, so we don'...
Jonny Cash's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
868 views

Former employee who thinks they were wronged is threatening me [closed]

I hired this lady to help me start with a project in Indonesia 2 years ago. I paid her what she asked and mentioned some profit/revenue sharing schema as a bonus if things work out. She was first ...
vmachacek's user avatar
  • 177
-1 votes
2 answers
5k views

How to ask my boss for shares in company?

My friends and I have been working in a startup for over 1 year. They have spent more time in this company and have already completed 2 years of work. During this time, we participate in a project ...
lambdapool's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Can I ask to be paid in equity?

Say I have a job offer from a company. They say they'll pay me X dollars a month. Can I negotiate to be paid fewer dollars but instead some equity? Is it appropriate to even ask? Does the answer to ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 3,185
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

Ended up with (almost) worthless equity, what to do?

I signed with a company which at that time was private, and I got stock options as part of my comp, which vest over the next four years. In the time between my signing and my starting date, the ...
whatabummer's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
279 views

Pay raises while having stock options [duplicate]

Say you're an early employee at a startup, and have been granted stock options (representing under 1% of equity). How should you approach the topic of pay raises? Should you just ask for a small bump,...
Futon's user avatar
  • 13
-2 votes
1 answer
308 views

Equity vs stock options (startup) [closed]

Is there any significant disadvantage receiving stock options vs. shares in a new startup? What could be the excuses for not giving shares but stock options and would it be reasonable to insist on ...
divB's user avatar
  • 103
2 votes
4 answers
819 views

How to evaluate a C-level job offer at a young startup [closed]

Have just been given an offer at a young startup (~3 yrs, 1 other employee [the CEO] and 2 contractors) for a CTO position. Offer is all-equity with a roadmap in place for salary after revenue goals ...
prospectiveCTO's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
784 views

As longest employee the stock grants offered does not reflect tenure as my boss had promised

I have worked for my employer for 7 years and have stuck with the company transitions and tough times when everyone else has left. My boss has said to me many times I would be receiving stock grants ...
longterm lily's user avatar
-3 votes
3 answers
2k views

When a company is sold-- do royalty holders get anything? [closed]

I am one of 3 founders of a very small startup company. We want to make rule that says, even if a founding partner leaves, they can still receive a 3% royalty from the company in perpetuity. Here's ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 227
3 votes
4 answers
814 views

How big of a share in a startup should I ask for/expect?

I've been asked if I'm interested in working as the lead developer at a startup e-commerce site. I am very interested and very confident in mine and the startup's ability to succeed. But I have no ...
tvanc's user avatar
  • 179
5 votes
3 answers
680 views

Asking For Equity 2 Years Later

I started working at a startup almost 2 years ago. I was brought on part-time. During negotiations I opted for a higher hourly rate as I needed the money and the management structure was questionable (...
user5854648's user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
2k views

Collaborator witholding code before deadline

A long friendship has ended, and I am looking for an objective, collective third party opinion on this matter. Summary: five days before a critical deadline, a collaborator has, with no warning, ...
user2647513's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
271 views

Options vs Equity vs Percentage

I received today an job offer via email for a role with a package including "Equity/options/%" as below: I am very pleased to present the offer from company xxx! $xxx + Super 12-month retention ...
Yooz's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
5 answers
966 views

Can I short a company stock when I intend to accept a job offer? [closed]

Let's say I have a job offer from a public company where a significant part of my compensation is in stock. I like the company and the position but I'm concerned that their stock is overvalued. Now, I'...
Some Guy's user avatar
  • 127
20 votes
9 answers
8k views

How much equity compensation can I expect from a preseed startup? [closed]

I am a software engineer with more than 6 years of experience and currently finishing my degree at UC Berkeley. I joined the team as a full stack and data science engineer. There are four other guys ...
darksky's user avatar
  • 351
3 votes
2 answers
298 views

Job title not matching the job activity

I have recently landed my first professional job as an contract equity research analyst at a small firm through a friend. Generally speaking, such role requires one to have completed at least a ...
Watchmen98's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to politely ask to trade stock option in job offer for something else?

I've read some related questions but: This is just a good explanation (doesn't answer my question). What's an employee stock option scheme? This question is from a startup perspective (not ...
user1821961's user avatar
  • 1,678
-4 votes
1 answer
254 views

Offered Equity in Company, Amount Open to Negotiation [closed]

I work for a small 6 person IT/WebDev company with 2 owners (with a 30/70 split). The company started about 10 years ago with just one member. The WebDev side has dwindled down to just me as of 6 ...
Michael W.'s user avatar
24 votes
8 answers
10k views

Would buying company shares increase my career possibilities within that company?

A company sent employees a letter offering to buy company shares. It is not clear if the amounts offered would allow voting rights with the company. I am not interested in buying shares from the ...
eee's user avatar
  • 4,541
0 votes
1 answer
436 views

My offer letter entitled me to 2.5% interest in the company after 2 years. Its been 2 years and nothing [closed]

My offer letter states I am entitled to the 2.5% interest in the company after completing 2 years. I've done that and so far just getting the brush off. What can I do? or should do?
queenezgurl's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
636 views

How to estimate the value of a startup equity when negotiating a contract

The startup offer, as listed on the website, suggests a fork of values for both salary and equity. Let's say, for the sake of clarity, the values are 90k-130k$ and 0.25-2% equity. I need to ...
A. Fenzry's user avatar
  • 1,103
6 votes
1 answer
817 views

Job offer at hedge fund requires investment [closed]

My relative has been offered a position and I want to get more info to see if it’s legit. A school advisor connected him with former employees of large international bank, who started their own ...
user3489590's user avatar
0 votes
5 answers
901 views

Does 'Provides equity' mean they are going to pay you? [closed]

I recently applied for a job that in the Posting said 60,000 - 90,000 (Provides equity). I have Gotten past the first two interviews and am heading for my third this Friday. During the interview ...
Sam Orozco's user avatar
31 votes
5 answers
10k views

Ethical dilemma: I work at a consultancy. How to handle a client's request to moonlight directly for them, for equity? Weirder context inside

I'm suddenly facing a bit of an ethical dilemma. To give background: The company I currently work for, let's call it AppCorp, currently has a client, let's call him Bill, who has built and launched a ...
Johnathan Wagner's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
2k views

What is a fair ask for the first employee who built the majority of the product if you want to rehire him? [closed]

I need some advice because I'm not sure if I'm being unreasonable here. TLDR: Joined friends startup (about 5-6 months in) on 6 month contract for salary and no equity. Built entire project from ...
Batman's user avatar
  • 453
4 votes
4 answers
6k views

What is the value in joining a start-up without any equity included in the contract? [closed]

I keep reading about joining a small start-up, keeping it up until it grows and then reaping the rewards. However, the way I see it is that investors and shareholders will be reaping the rewards, ...
user avatar